My DD is almost 7 and was originally diagnosed with suspected allergies at 2 months old when she had a severe reaction to shellfish and milk through my breastmilk. Long story short she was confirmed to have allergies and since that time we have struggled to figure all of this out. Currently she is allergic to Peanuts, Treenuts, Seafood, Shellfish, Dairy, Eggs, Latex and Penicillin. Her last RAST scores at the end of June of this year were 15 for dairy and .49 for eggs specifically. The .49 is what we seem to be having the issue with. Her ped (she hasn't seen her allegist since June and he doesn't do challenges or RAST testing) suggested we challenge her with egg. I will not do a challenge on my own. I thought I could go through with it in the parking lot of the Emergency room Dept. BUT then my BFF Google and I had a conversation and what I read scared me and I was hoping to gain some clarity from you educated folks! (thanks in advance) From what I understand, Dolly could have a severe reaction to egg even though her RAST score for egg has dropped significantly? She has never been exposed to egg. She hasn't been vaccinated. Which is aproblem for me, I want her vaccinated especially for H1N1 when it becomes available, BUT in the same breath I will not expose her to something that could hurt her because a Ped with allergy interest is telling me to go ahead BUT what I am reading is saying even with a score that low it's still a positive and I shouldn't proceed....thoughts?

Our last blood test results says anything below .35 is undetectable, and .36-.69 is 'low' level of antibody. I've read varied responses about what could cause a serious reaction, and the answers have been 2 - 20. I'm not sure people are able to accurately predict the possibility of a severe reaction with a blood test, or even with the combined blood test, skin test and past history.

If I were you (and I'm not a medical professional, but a mom with 2 allergic kids), I would find an allergist that does do all the testing you need, and get that person's advice about doing a scratch test plus an oral challenge for egg if you would like to find out once and for all.

Re H1N1, both my kids are allergic to egg and I have never given them a flu shot, but because my son reacts very adversely to minor colds, I'm concerned what will happen if he gets the flu this winter. I have an appointment booked with my allergist at the end of Nov to get them scratch tested with the vaccine, then administer the vaccine in his office if we decide it's worthwhile (based on the reaction to the skin test). I also have an appointment booked with our family doctor this week to discuss a flu plan for him, which will hopefully include a prescription for Tamiflu, which is an antiviral medication that doesn't contain egg, which one would take after experiencing flu symptoms. I want to have at least the prescription on hand so once he starts symptoms, I can run out and get the medication without having to wait to see a doctor again. Hope that helps.

Thankyou so much for your response. We are just outside of Edmonton...and allergists are far and few between. We may need to go to Calgary which we are prepared to do providing we can get a straight answer. I guess my concern is that what Iread is that a childs RAST scores can go down just from simply not being exposed. Then if they are exposed like in a challenge BOOM it can wreck any chance you had of outgrowing it because you reexposed. For us I think it's different because she has never been exposed to egg. We originally found out she was allergic to egg through RAST/skin test. UGH it's so hard to know but the bottom line is a trip to the allergist. I just thought if there was another parent who had some information at least I could ask a few more informed questions before I go ahead and feed her egg..which I am terrified to do...thanks again for your information. I appreciate it.

I see your point about not wanting to expose your child. I felt the same way and refused to do a scratch test for peanut for my daughter, opting instead for the blood test only. Our allergist also recommends total avoidance which helps your body 'forget' that it's allergic rather than re-exposing from time to time to test it out. There is conflicting and confusing advice out there, though. I think if my RAST score was that low, I'd be inclined to get it checked out unless there is no benefit to finding out she is not allergic to egg (ie your family is vegan, etc).

Thanks for your response. I appreciate the response. We are goingto go and get it checked out The reason for doing a challenge is because I want to vaccinate her and with this allergy specifically my hands are tied.

I noticed that one of your children is allergic to kiwi? You probably already know this but children with a PB allergy are often alergic to kiwi too because molecularly they are very similar

I would encourage you to seek out allergists regarding food allergies. Pediatricians are quite good for most standard childhood illnesses but they are given very little training on anaphylaxis and it is too important an issue to take a chance on.

I hope you can find someone who will discuss your options and help you find asolution that works for your family.

That would be terrific...we did have an allergist...but unfortunately he had the ego to match and I wasn't comfortable signing a release to challenge when she had very little language at the time (I think she was 15 months old?) and her RAST score for egg was 40+ . Then it got to the point where he would just address his questions to my husband. So, we stopped seeing him. We found another allergist, really great BUT he doesn't believe in food challenges. He said they are mainly done for research and if we were avoiding the foods she skin tested positive to then we were ok. At the time (she was 4 and a half when we did this) it all looked good. She didn't seem to be outgrowing anything and I kind of accepted that she would just have severe allergies the rest of her life. Then last year we put her in school for the first time and she began to get sick, really sick and I wondered if there was an immune system thing going on or what..that's where the Ped came in. He did some blood work and asked if he could repeat the RAST because he has an "interest" in allergies. I said fine because we were doing it anyway. That's when we got the enlightened news that her egg went way down in 18 months and he suggested we challenge her. When we just completed her annual appt at the asthma clinic I mentioned it to the ped that runs the clinic and he said with a score that low an allergist likely would challenge and we should just go ahead and feed her an egg...ACK!! Your telling a mom that watched her 2 month old baby be given an epipen! I am not comfortable with that BUT after I did some research, I thought I had backed up my decision to wait but reading what others have said here I am just not sure. I think the best thing to do is to find an allergist within a short period of time (I know good luck lol)that will challenge her. If you know of a resource I'd appreciate it. Our nearest city centre is Edmonton.

Have you tried getting in to see Dr. Van der Leek? He used to be in Calgary, but moved to Edmonton when my son was about 2 1/2. He was our first allergist. I know people here who drove all the way to Edmonton for years because they liked him so much. I believe he does food challenges, because when he moved, he tried to find us an allergist left in Calgary who would do it if needed.

FYI, we just had our 1st challenge (my son is 9), because his tree nut RAST numbers came way down. They were still in the "positive" range, but our allergist felt it was worth a try.

First, they did the skin prick test with the walnut extract that they always use AND some of the crushed walnuts that I brought in. They also put some of the walnut on his cheek for the 1st step. He flared up quickly, and then started sneezing so they stopped right there. The next steps were to be "painting" his outer lip, then his inner lip, drop on tongue etc.... until they can tolerate a "meal-sized portion".

I wouldn't risk doing it on your own, considering that my son is obviously still very allergic despite his lower numbers. Our allergist explained that the skin prick and RAST tests are still only helpful in diagnosis, that they can make educated guesses about peoples allergies with the results. For example - my son was skin-prick negative to their walnut extract, but he developed a huge hive to the actual crushed walnut!

Good luck - see if you can get in to Dr. Van der Leek. If you do decide to come to Calgary, I highly, highly recommend Dr. Stephen Cheuk. He is a ped as well - and is SO thorough. He's our 3rd allergist, and I really, really like him.

We challenged my 1.5 year old daughter's wheat allergy at home this past summer on the recommendation of our allergist. Like your daughter, my daughter's allergies were initially diagnosed based on her reactions to breastmilk. From there we've added more allergens in the last year since she started solids.

Wheat was one of the things she was allergic based on RAST and skin test, but she'd never actually eaten it. So once her numbers dropped down to 1.5 (from 12 last year), the allergist felt confident about the challenge. We started with a little bit on her skin, on her lip and then a little to eat. No reaction at all.

I totally understand your hesitation with the challenge, but in the end its really the only way you can definitively say whether or not she's outgrown her allergy. Good luck whatever you decide!

_________________6 year old son - eczema and sensitive skin4 year old daughter - allergic to nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mustard and eggs; has outgrown allergies to wheat and legumes (by age 2) and to dairy, soy (by age 3.5).

Hi, I am also in Edmonton. Just thought I'd suggest Dr Lidman. We see him and I know he will do challanges because he is hoping my daughter can do one next tear. Her egg levels have gone from 7.5 to 3.4

My daughter is anaphylactic to eggs. Her IGE levels for egg last year were 20, and this year they went up to 47. I just thought some people might find comfort in the fact that my little girl has taken the H1N1 vaccine three weeks ago, and she is fine. She cannot take the regular flu shot because it has too much egg in it, and when they did a skin test the result was positive (hives and swelling in the area). However, with the H1N1, there was no problem. If your child is asthmatic like mine, and has a horrible time recovering from the flu, then I think it is worth a shot to test them for the H1N1. Our allergist is giving her the vaccine in small doses, and this seems to be working.

A note about doing a challenge; I would never attempt to do one outside of the doctor's office even if the RAST ratings seem low. RAST ratings are not always an indicator of how severe an allergy is. Most times there is a strong correlation, but there are cases where the RAST numbers are low yet the allergic reaction is quite severe, and vice versa. I would recommend that you take your child to the allergist (if you can find one who does food challenges) and have him/her do the challenge in a proper medical setup.

Thank you for your response..I found it very helpful. I am hopeful she can have the vaccine and we haven't challenged her yet because we have found a new allergist but are waiting for an appointment. I have heard that in small doses they have been successful...very good to know you had success. She did have something not very long ago and we are wondering if it was H1N1..it was a horrible cough and as a matter of fact she still has some residual. She does have asthma and seems to suffer so much worse than other children when she gets sick. One of the reasons we feel this is so important.

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